52 Treffer

The reinsurance market is currently faced with great challenges and profound changes. Even after the large NatCat claims in Q3-2017, the substantial hardening of the reinsurance market for which reinsurers had hoped failed to materialise in the year-end renewal. Interest is now focussed on the renewal of retrocession agreements as at 1st April 2018. The Cologne Research Centre for Reinsurance analyses the latest developments in the reinsurance market and, where appropriate, monitors these through research projects.
In the process, the Cologne Research Centre for Reinsurance links its research activities with practices in the reinsurance sector. Hereby, and facilitated through organisation of the annual Cologne Reinsurance Symposium and the Annual Meeting of the Sponsoring Group Reinsurance, a bi-directional transfer of knowledge between theory and practice is pursued. The content of these two scientific events, as well as the completed research projects, are incorporated into scholarship and instruction at the Institute of Insurance Studies, rounding out practice-oriented training in the field of reinsurance. Currently, there are seven researchers and two coordinating employees on the staff of the Cologne Research Centre for Reinsurance. Thereby, all material and personnel costs are fully financed by third-party funds provided by the Sponsoring Group Reinsurance. We want to thank the Sponsoring Group Reinsurance, the University leadership and administration, and the employees of the Cologne Research Centre for Reinsurance for all their support for the research projects and events of the past year.

The 10th Annual Meeting of the Sponsoring Group Reinsurance was held 7 July 2017, in Niederkassel
near Köln. Some 80 representatives of the (re)insurance companies involved in the Sponsoring Group took part in the meeting, together with invited guests. Offered for the third time as part of the Annual Meeting, the Researchers’ Corner gave nine members of academic staff at the Cologne Research Centre for Reinsurance an opportunity to deliver short presentations on their individual research projects. Professor Materne also conducted interviews with Messrs Lorenz Kielwein and
Frank Baumann. Kielwein reported on the application of mathematical systems theory to processes in change management, and Baumann on his 30 years of experience at Gothaer. During each of three sessions, three short lectures with posters were held in parallel and discussed afterwards. The heterogeneity of the topics presented by the staff members reflects the dovetailing
of research theory with practice.
In the sessions, the following speakers presented in German and English:
Round 1
a) Fabian Pütz (M.Sc.)
Alternative Capital and Basic Risk in the Standard Formula (Non-Life) of Solvency II
b) Manuel Dietmann (M.Sc.)
SFCR: Findings for Initial Publication
c) Jan Böggemann (B.Sc.)
Optimising the Purchase of Optional Reinsurance by an Industrial Insurer
Round 2
a) Robert Joniec (M.Sc.)
Actuarial swap
b) Lucas Kaiser (M.Sc.)
The Impact of Different Determinants on the Rating of Reinsurance Companies
c) Lihong Wang (M.Sc., FCII)
Chinese Automobile Vehicle Recall Insurance
Round 3
a) Sebastian Hoos (M.Sc., FCII)
Critical Analysis of the Practical Application of the Definition of an Event
b) Fabian Lassen (B.A.)
Employees in the Reinsurance Industry: Germany and the USA.
c) Kai-Olaf Knocks (M.A., FCII)
[Autonomous Driving: Evolution or Revolution?
The presentations also featured the work of another member of our staff who unfortunately, for
logistical reasons, was able to present his research project in poster form but was not able to deliver
a brief lecture.
Poster
d) Wolfgang Koch (B.A.)
Public-Private Partnership in Emerging and Developing Countries.
We would like to thank the funding bodies who make this event possible to begin with and provide our scholars an opportunity to conduct their research.

Plants have certain characteristics which allow them to respond to various environmental conditions, like changes in climate, water loss in the soil, lack of minerals; among others. In some of these so-called traits, the responses to climatic phenomena such as drought can be evidenced through morphological adaptations (spines, succulent tissues, trichomes, among others) or physiological adaptations (regulation of water potential at the cellular level, the concentration of nutrients, etc.)
In certain areas of Brazil such as the Mata Atlântica biome, drought events are increasingly occurring and affecting human activities and the environment, and it is required to understand if tree species with traits adapted to dry conditions are occurring in drought-prone areas. For this reason, it is intended to find out the potential of using morphological functional traits of woody species as indicators of dry conditions in the transition zone of the Atlantic Forest. RJ Brazil.
Therefore, this work was carried out considering a field phase in a drought-prone area known as “Mata de Tabuleiros” or Semideciduous Seasonal Lowland Forest that belongs to the domain of the Mata Atlântica, there were selected morphological traits in order to know which of them can give a hint as drought tolerant traits. On the other side, there was searched in the Rio de Janeiro Botanical Garden JABOT database for species with recorded characteristics related to drought adaptations. For the traits in the field, and the selected species from the database was elaborated a Species Distribution Model SDM in order to know how some climatic variables allow the distribution of species and morphological traits.
As main result there was elaborated a set of trait indicators that can be considered for further analysis in the region; and also the results of the SDM obtained at large scale for the Mata Atlântica for the species selected from the database, and the SDM for the traits analyzed in the field in the Mata de Tabuleiros. Besides that, the consultations with experts in the subject were an important input that allowed to carry out this research. The use of morphological and functional traits is important to understand the interactions between organisms and their environment, in this case, to cope and tolerate a climate phenomenon like drought.
Keywords: Mata de Tabuleiros, Drought tolerance, Morphological traits, Species Distribution Modeling

Urban settlements demand the highest levels of resource consumption and waste management.
It has been accepted that cities should be considered organisms. Through Urban Energy Metabolism the planning and management of energy that flows across cities achieves important developments towards sustainability. Energy Efficiency is one of the primary tools used to produce sustainable development. Cities worldwide are developing action plans that implement the teachings of holism and eco-friendly practices. Systems Theory is a field developed with the intention of managing systems based on interdisciplinarity and a holistic approach. Fundamental practices of systems thinking are applicable to the study of cities as sustainable organisms/complex systems. Planning for Energy Efficient Cities (PLEEC) is an European project that was executed by a group of participants from the public, private, and education sectors, with the purpose of designing energy efficiency action plans to meet the targets of 2020. This work introduces, based on a literature review, several systems theories. A critique of the characteristics of PLEEC’s framework is performed to assess the level of systemic consideration into holism and sustainability. The evaluation of the process or success of the energy efficiency plans elaborated is not in the scope of the research. Using a modified version of Michael C.
Jackson’s Total Systems Intervention and a table that summarizes the principles of systems thinking, it is concluded that the plan lacks systemic consideration of cities as complex systems. The framework includes several concepts attributed to the field, such as interconnection of elements exchanging information and resources, but fails in defining self-organizing feedback based structures and function-driven behavior. It is of paramount importance that system thinking basics be at the core of all planning.

Since the development of eGovernment systems is gaining worldwide momentum, the European Union is constantly increasing its efforts to induce the development of eGovernment systems in its member states. The currently running strategy is the ’eGovernment Action Plan 2016-2020’, which understands itself as a catalyst for developments in the member states.
Despite these ongoing efforts by the European Union regarding eGovernment, stud- ies are repeatedly revealing that the quality and acceptance by the citizens of dig- ital public services are varying heavily within the EU. Being based on the same political guidelines provided by the EU, the national strategies implemented the core principles to different degrees. These different implementation rates, analyzed for Germany, the United Kingdom and Estonia, supplement the holistic analysis of the eGovernment policies, applications and usage in each member state. This gets proven by the connection of this indicator with related studies in the field of eGov- ernment applications and usage within the European Union.
The aim of this thesis is, on the one hand, to quantify differences in the implementa- tion of the ’eGovernment Action Plan 2016-2020’ into national policies in Germany, the UK and Estonia and, on the other hand, establish this indicator as a valuable asset for evaluating and monitoring the eGovernment efforts by the EU member states.

Blogging has established itself as an important and influential part of the
modern online media. At the dawn of the blogosphere people were publishing
their diaries and life journals. Nowadays, some bloggers operate blogs that are
hardly any different from online newspapers and magazines. On the one hand
professional blogging is broadly accepted in the society, but on the other hand
it is poorly understood. The purpose of this explorative study is to broaden
the understanding of blogging as a professional activity. In particular, this
study explores the aspects of professional blogging and the interplay between
credibility, authenticity and monetisation in blogs.
To understand blogging as a professional activity an extensive literature
research is conducted. First, main concepts of blogging as a social activity
are discussed. Then, the changes that come together with the transformation
of a social activity into a professional activity of blogging are discussed. To
look at the activity of blogging from an unusual perspective, a comprehensive
qualitative survey is conducted with blog readers. The survey examines
not only readers’ perception of blogging as a professional activity, but also
motivations for reading blogs and attitude to monetising practices and labelling
of monetised content in blogs. Information received from the survey is used to
draw some conclusions about the state of the art of blogging as a professional
activity, and challenges and opportunities blogging industry faces nowadays.

With a rapidly growing population and urbanization, most modern slums (favelas) also proliferated in Brazil since the 1950s when many people left rural areas of Brazil and moved into the cities. Rio de Janeiro is one of those cities having a vast amount of favelas with poor living conditions. One of the main problems of electricity supply in favelas is illegal electricity use, called ‘Gato’ in Portuguese. Recent unexpected severe drought, economic crisis, and rapidly increased electricity price in Brazil affected the reliable supply of affordable electricity in favelas.
Considering abundant solar radiation of the country and the government’s willingness trying to shift the framework of energy supply from hydropower to renewable energy, this study analyzes the solar PV potentials to ensure a reliable supply of affordable electricity in favelas in Rio de Janeiro.
Literature reviews regarding solar PV development in Brazil, energy policy analysis in Brazil and electricity issues in favelas are revised. As a case study, the chosen favela ‘Babilônia’ is presented. The survey analysis about electricity consumption situation with social dimension targeting residences in Babilônia is implemented. Lastly, through economic analyses with cost-benefit calculation such as Internal Rate of Return (IRR), Net Present Value (NPV), Discounted Cash Flow, Payback period, Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM) and Weighted-Average Cost of Capital (WACC) models, this study develops the possible financing alternatives to implement a solar PV project with different scenario analyses in the current solar PV market and solar energy policy of Brazil.
The results of this study can be used as an aid to comprehend the electricity supply issue of the most vulnerable class in Brazil and the solar PV as a solution.

Objectives FHIR (Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources) is an emerging Stan¬dard for improving interoperability in the domain of health care. Besides offering features for achieving syntactical, semantical and organizational interoperability, it also specifies a RESTful API for searching purposes. The main objective of the following thesis revolves around investigating open challenges and limitations of the so-called FHIR Search Framework.
Methods A variety of operations for searching in FHIR resources, including all search interactions, definitions of search parameters, search parameter types and advanced search concepts are described. Over the course of the thesis, a quality model based on ISO 25010 is established. It serves as the foundation for determining if the FHIR Search Framework is well-suited to cover the Information needs of its users. An analysis of completeness involving the measures defined in the quality model forms the main contribution. The primary discussion of the research questions is concluded by proposing a graph model for determining reachability between FHIR resources, essentially mirroring the chaining and reverse chaining functionality. Using well-known classes for expressiveness in graphs, the thesis assess to which degree a graph search can be formulated with the currently defined capabilities.
Results From a functional perspective the FHIR Search Framework can be considered well-suited. Practical limitations should be minimal, grounded on the fact that extensive coverage of the lowest expressiveness classes, RPQs and 2RPQs, can be achieved. Severe gaps where identified only in the support of C(2)RPQs and Data Path Queries. Additionally, ideas for improving non-functional aspects are introduced to support developers in learning the Standard and testing their implementations.
Conclusion The evaluation of the FHIR Search Framework showed promising re¬sults in terms of functional completeness. Yet, the Standard is still evolving, and certain parts of the Search API are neither well-known nor implemented widely. A discussion is to be held if the specification should cover more sophisticated aspects that result from the gaps which were identified.

Observational studies and clinical trials have become increasingly important over recent years and play an essential role in advancing medical knowledge. In today’s world of clinical research, it is not possible to imagine trials without the founda-tion of a well-established it-infrastructure. Electronic capture and usage of data is pervasive.
In practice, medical progress requires the ability to integrate data from different systems. An essential factor in enabling different actors, such as institutions and hospitals, to have their systems exchange structured data and make use of the information is the interoperability of the data and systems.
FHIR (Fast Healthcare Interoperable Resources) is a free and easily customizable HL7 platform standard, based on 30 years of experience of HL7. It is focused on providing health-related information and defines a set of capabilities used in the health care process.
This thesis will provide a conceptual approach for working with FHIR, as well as concrete approaches for working with FHIR profiles and for customizing the standard for particular use cases. It will be carried out in cooperation with the Medical Systems R&D, which is a service provider within the University Hospital of Cologne.
The guiding request approach will focus on the evaluation of requirements for clini-cal trials and how clinical research protocols can be represented in an interoperable and machine-parsable format using FHIR.

Policy measures are essential tools for the transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources in the electricity generation. Feed-in tariffs (FITs) are the most used policy for support of renewable technologies globally. Nevertheless, Ecuador phased-out FITs in 2016 and adopted auctions in 2015. Ecuador’s implementation of auctions reflects an approach with little relation to practices in other countries and without a technology-specific design. On the other hand, Germany demonstrates a long trajectory in policy-making with vast experience in FITs. Moreover, in 2017 Germany adopted auctions as the official policy to support renewable projects with a scope larger than 750 kW. However, FITs are still in use and complement auctions.
This thesis analyses and compares the country-specific contexts where these policies are implemented through the lens of a multi-level perspective framework. As a result, the most important success factors in Germany have been identified: long-term planning, institutional continuity, legislative stability and principally an actively participating society, which is environmentally aware. Obstacles for the transition in Ecuador are institutional discontinuity, legislative inconsistency, the lack of long-term planning and absence of society as actors of the transition. Due to Germany’s pioneering role plus the successful growth of renewable sources during the last twenty years, their policy implementations appear desirable to adopt in other contexts. Therefore, a prospective transferability of the auction policy from Germany to Ecuador is additionally analyzed.

Worldwide there is a big need for affordable livingspace. Globalization leads to a connection of development and ideas in the field of building. Open Source communities could improve and accelerate this development. The potential of theses communities lies in the connection of different diciplines. Especially for building projects with a small budget and a willingness to participate in the work process open source do-it-yourself constructions are a great opportunity to help cover the need of affordable work and living space. Renewable materials such as wood offer great potential here. New, standardised technologies make a decentralised production possible.